Stock market today: Dow hits another record, S&P 500, Nasdaq waver as investors shrug off Nvidia share drop

Stock market today: Dow hits another record, S&P 500, Nasdaq waver as investors shrug off Nvidia share drop

Aug 29,2024

The Dow closed at another record on Thursday — its third this week — while the other major averages finished the day lower as investors assessed Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings alongside data that showed the US economy grew more than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) gained more than 200 points to finish the session at a new all-time high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) erased earlier gains to drop about 0.2%, while the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) closed flat on the heels of losses for all three gauges .

Stocks wavered amid Wall Street's lackluster reception for the numbers from Nvidia , whose stellar growth streak has underpinned the market's rally this year.

While the AI chipmaker's quarterly profit and revenue guidance topped estimates, the size of the beats fell short of high-running hopes. That started to stir questions as to whether the AI boom has peaked. Wall Street remained bullish on the stock, but shares still ended the day down around 6%.

Elsewhere in earnings, Salesforce ( CRM ) shares popped after a big earnings beat by the software maker. Best Buy ( BBY ) shares soared as much as 17% after the retailer posted better-than expected results as its sales stabilized . Meanwhile, Dollar General ( DG ) shares tanked more than 30% after the discount retailer cut its full year outlook and blamed softer sales on "cash-strapped" customers.

The US economy grew at a stronger pace than expected in the last quarter, according to a reading of gross domestic product released on Thursday. Second-quarter GDP increased at an annual rate of 3%, up from a prior estimate of 2.8%.

Weekly US jobless claims came in at 231,000, a decline from the prior week, and lower than 232,000 expected by economists.

The market is closely watching economic data for a steer on how fast and deep the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, now that Chair Jerome Powell has clearly flagged a cut is coming in September.